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| Negroni Bianco |
The menu is reminding diners that Mediterranean food is more than hummus, with influences from southern France, Italy, and northern Africa. It’s on Madison Avenue just across the street from the waterfront and it’s been open since December 2023.
Executive chef and co-owner Danielle Lewis has been cooking for over 20 years and got a degree in culinary arts from Lane Community College. Her role focuses on menu design, cooking, everything back-of-house. Director of operations and co-owner Evan Deffenbacher’s role focuses on the bar and front-of-house elements.
Those unfamiliar with Lucca Taverna would likely recognize Castor, which was opened seven years ago by the same trio of owners. Lewis and Deffenbacher call Lucca a “sister-restaurant” to Castor, which serves Southern-style food with a whiskey bar. Lucca’s atmosphere stands in contrast to this masculine aesthetic with a more elegant and feminine feel.
In Corvallis there used to be a small European restaurant named Luc whose menu changed regularly and had a similarly intimate ambiance. Luc is Lucca’s namesake and inspiration.
“It seemed to really fill an important niche in this community and being able to provide something other than the more casual eateries that are around in that it’s more unabashedly European in its approach, trying to introduce people to new things and just a very different experience,” said Deffenbacher.
The changing menu is something Lucca has taken on. Lewis said, “It’s more exciting that it changes more frequently. I don’t have to commit to getting carrots every week, I can get this amount of carrots and I can get something else the next week. It's whatever the farm realistically has. We work heavily with Rainshine Family Farm out of Kings Valley. Today I was on the phone with them and they were walking through their field telling me what they had available for me. Even if it was a small quantity of say like, 10 butterhead lettuces, that could be a menu for a week for us.”
Deffenbacher continued, “I think sometimes when you change your menu less you end up on the shoulders of a season where maybe at the beginning of a season, old menu, the produce isn’t at its peak. So you end up having to start using a product before its perfect or you may have to source from somewhere. You have to make more compromises.”
The menu at Lucca Taverna changes every couple weeks.
The dinner I had was two hours of leisurely fine dining, a combination hard to find anywhere. The servers were laid back yet attentive. I would recommend it for a date night or dinner with friends. I had the opportunity to make reservations, but I didn’t need them once I arrived so don’t let that stop you from trying to walk in.
I started my order with negroni bianco. The gin was fantastic, a good thing because it was strong. The lemon twist was elegant and aromatic.
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| beef carpaccio |
Lucca Taverna offers both tapas and entree-style dining, and allows for plates to be sent out one at a time or all at once. I didn’t specify which when I ordered six plates, yet they still came out in an order that felt purposeful.
First out was the asparagus panzanella salad. I ordered it because it came with the arugula-pistachio pesto, a new addition in a couple dishes since the last time the online menu was updated.
The pesto was earthier than your average pesto and paired phenomenally with the goat cheese and prepared vegetable's freshness. Ordered with focaccia, it would make a well-rounded lunch.
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| butter bean hummus |
Next was the beef carpaccio. Raw beef is rare to find in Corvallis save for Castor, which serves beef tartar. Served with an anchovy aioli, the extra-tender thinly sliced beef was sashimi-esque and a good bridge from the fresh salad to heartier dishes.
Then the butter bean hummus. The flavor was more delicate than other hummuses. It has a slightly sour quality that I couldn't explain from the menu’s description. Regardless, it was still very good, and the warm pita and carrots paired with it easily.
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| octopus |
Then the arancini; fried balls of risotto and cheese, you can’t mess ’em up, they were fantastic. The aioli was a nice touch, and the artichoke addition to the filling made them feel less heavy.
The octopus was my personal favorite item of the night. The pieces of octopus were generously bite-sized and the olive gremolata was everything I didn't know octopus needed. The octopus was well-cooked, with crispy edges and not too tough to chew (with braces!).
The gremolata’s flavor strongly reminded me of pepperoni. Perhaps pepperoni and octopus sounds like an odd combination. I promise it works.
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| spiced beef kebab |
The last plate was the spiced beef kebab. The beef was great, tender and cooked well. The cooked vegetables on the kebab maintained a pleasant toothsomeness. The stick was laid on a shmeer of labneh that brightened each bite.
Finally, I had a second drink, the sangria. Not too sweet, not too tannin-y, a universal crowd pleaser.
Others have had similarly positive experiences. The r/corvallis subreddit has several posts referring Lucca Taverna, with some commenters talking about their experiences:
User u/rooski15 said, “Castor (southern inspired locally sourced) and Lucca (Mediterranean, family style dining, locally sourced) are both great for casual/semi-formal.”
User u/eyebrowcake said, “I've been once and love it. It's a lot of small shareable plates with inspiration from the Mediterranean” and that it’s one of their two favorite restaurants right now.
In the far future Lucca Taverna is likely to start a third business across the street from Castor, where right now they have a prep kitchen. In the near future guests can look forward to eating seasonal menu items in the outdoor seating during Lucca Taverna’s first summer season.
Lewis said, “Tomatoes and eggplant, that’s what I’m excited about, but I have no plans yet!”
“For us having opened this restaurant in the winter time, really we haven't had the sort of ingredients that we would typically want to use to showcase that kind of cuisine so I’m personally pumped because I think the food will just continue to get better,” said Deffenbacher.
Other fun things that are on the drawing board at Lucca Taverna include a happy hour and a pasta or pizza night.
At a Glance: Lucca Taverna
Address: 150 SW Madison Ave, Corvallis OR 97333
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 4 to 10 p.m.
Sunday 4 to 9 p.m.
Monday-Tuesday closed
Menu: Mediterranean
Prices: Plates range $6-$28
Menu (example): https://indd.adobe.com/view/1c01efe6-f2f2-45b4-ad5d-0f0ed8b3441c
Phone: 541-521-0216
Website: https://luccataverna.com/
Social media: Instagram, Facebook
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